Yes, this guy knows the secret to happiness.

It also sums up what the research says is the most powerful (and easy) way to become happier.

Louis CK? Scientific research? Jokes about rotary phones? Huh?

Buckle in, I'll explain.

"Everything is amazing right now and nobody's happy."

Louis CK says that around 2 minutes and 15 seconds in. Then he drives it home around 3:55 with this anecdote:

I was on an airplane and there was internet - high speed internet - on the airplane. That's the newest thing that I know exists. And I'm sitting on the plane and they go, "Open up your laptops. You can go on the internet."

"When I was a kid we didn't have…"

Growing up you complained about something trivial and heard a version of this story from Grandpa:

When I was your age we didn't have (fill in amazing modern thing). All we had was (really pathetic substitute that makes you feel guilty). We had to (short anecdote about how difficult life was that, frankly, you can't relate to at all). And we were happy!

An appreciation of remaining time leads older people to be more grateful for what they have, Carstensen and other researchers say. And being thankful is great for mental health. Studies by Robert A. Emmons, a psychology professor at UC Davis, show that people who focus on what they are grateful for have better emotional well-being, especially a positive mood, compared with people who focus on the negative or neutral information.

Research shows taking time to feel gratitude can prevent you from taking things for granted.

Every night for the next week, set aside ten minutes before you go to sleep. Write down three things that went well today and why they went well…Writing about why the positive events in your life happened may seem awkward at first, but please stick with it for one week. It will get easier. The odds are that you will be less depressed, happier, and addicted to this exercise six months from now.

This staggeringly complex technique consists of determining which activities are pleasant, and doing them more often.

Again, it's stupidly simple. But as Jennifer Aaker explained in my interview with her, people just don't consistently do it on their own:

…people who spend more time on projects that energize them and with people who energize them tend to be happier. However, what is interesting is that there is often a gap between where people say they want to spend their time and how they actually spend their time. For example, if you ask people to list the projects that energize (vs. deplete) them, and what people energize (vs. deplete) them, and then monitor how they actually spend their time, you find a large percentage know what projects and people energize them, but do not in fact spend much time on those projects and with those people.

You need the list. And then you need to get it on the calendar:

Taking an inventory about where you're spending your time is revealing. And then once you identify the activities and people with whom you want to spend more time, calendaring your time thoughtfully becomes critical. When you put something on a calendar, you're more likely to actually do that activity - partly because you're less likely to have to make an active decision whether you should do it - because it's already on your calendar.

Want to know how to live a happy life? Write down the three things every night. Give it a shot.